Golf-tee



W. J. MERRILL.

GOLF TEE.

APPLICATION `FILED DEC.3. IIIIs.v

1,1%;860. n PamnIedA-ug.15,1916.

ml nl INVENTOR WITNESS I A TTORN E YS WILLIAM JACKSON MERRILL, Von I'IIILADELPIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA. .f

. GOLF-TEE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1916.

Application led December 3, 1915. Serial No. 64,796.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JACKSON MERRILL, a citizen of the United States, and

av resident of Philadelphia, county of Phila? delphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Golf-Tee, of which the following is a specilication, reference being had to the accompanying draw- In l v i .l

iy invention relates to devices applicable to the game of golf as .at present played, and is designed to supersede the use of a small mound of sand, earth or other material which at certain stages ofthe game is formed or erected by the player asma base'or pedestal upon which the ball with which the game, is played is mounted preparatory to striking same with a suitable, golf club. For the purpose of providing a convenient means of forming the mound or pedestal referred to and which is known as a tee,

it is customary in most golf clubs to provide l a boX of moist sand at the points upon the course where it is customary for the players to drive the ball from a tee, andthe'player,

f preparatory to making a stroke, generally manually withdraws suiiicient' of the sand from the box toform a tee of lthe desired size and then placing the sand vupon the ground, compresses the same between his lingers to form a substantially cone-shaped mound, upon the apeX of which he places the ball. Under varying conditions and with different players it is customary to vary the height of the tee Aas desired,- some players preferring a tee of relatively low height and others a tee of greater elevation, .depending upon the individual method of play and the nature of the stroke to be made. V

The construction of the earth or sand tee as hereinbefore described, is at best a somewhat annoying and disagreeable operation, involving as it does the withdrawalof the moist sand-from the boX or the gathering of a suiicient amount of earth from anyv suitable or convenient place should the boX byl any chance be empty, whereby the hands of the player become soiled. Furthermore, to properly construct the tee and balance the ball thereon requires 'a' certain amount of skill, and if the sand or earth .used for the purpose is not properly moistenedN considerable diiculty is often experienced in causing the tee to assume the desired shape 'and height and in positioning the ball thereon.

A principal object of my invention, there-y fore,/is to provide an articial golf tee which may be carried about the golf course by the player for convenient. employment at. such p oints thereon as may be desired; to provide a tee of thls nature which shall be read` ily adjustable in height and which if accidentally struck by the club in making the stroke will in no wise injure the same, or be. likely to be driven for a considerable dis-v tance in case it should be so accidentally struck.

Further objects of my invention yare to,

provide a golf tee having the foregoing characteristics, which shall be of 'pleasing appearance, which shall possess all of the advantages of the tee formed of sand or "Q other material and none ofthefdsadvantages as hereinbefore 'briefly outlined, and which may be constructed yat'minimum eX- pense and sold for a low'I`- rice. I

My invention further includes allbfthe other variousnovel objects and features of construction and arrangement hereinafter more deinitely speci'e'd-'F' x In the accompanying drawing is 'illustrated a preferred `,ferml :Qfmy invention," Flgure l belng .a perspective '.view of thel device `in operative position; Fig. 2 another perspective view thereof in a modified operatlve position, and Fig. 3 .a .central vertical longitudinal section of the device.

That form of the 'invention illustrated may preferably comprise a pluralityl of superimposed plies 1 of suitable preferably lrubber or the like. Each ply, of whichthere .slightly resilient material, and in practice i may be any desired number, siX being shown in thev drawing, may comprise disksr 3, 4 at either end connected by a longitudinally eX- tending bar 5, thediameterof the disk 3 0f any given ply beingpreferably somewhat greater than the diameter of the disk'Q 4.

Preferably circular apertures 7' are formedL 1n each of the disks 3, these apertures, if desired, being all of the same size, but the outside diameter of each of the disks 3 may preferably be graded or graduated,.that of the disk 3 in the uppermost ply being slightly less than the diameter of the corresponding disk of its subjacent ply, and so on in succession, so that when the plies are assembled as shown in Fig. l, the superimposed disks 3 will form substantiallyafrusytum of 'a cone having a central, substantially` cylindrical aperture. In a similar manner x tuur of a cone.

For the purpose of securing all of the plies in relatively rotatable relation, suitable means are provided adjacent the disks 4, those shown in the drawing comprising a suitable headed rivet 10 extending through suitable apertures in the plies and a preferably circular washer 12 surrounding that portion of the rivet extending below the lowermost ply and preferably of somewhat greater diameter than the lowermost disk 4, the lower end of the rivet being headed over either directly against this washer or against the smaller washer 15 interposed between the under face of the washer 12 and the headed over portion of the rivet. It will be evident that if the rivet be formed of a suitable length, the various plies will be by this means secured together in superimposed relation and also be capable of relative rotation about the rivet as a center for the purpose to be hereinafter described.

If desired all of the plies may be made of constant thickness, but in the preferred form of the invention and as shown in the drawing, I preferably taper or graduate the thickness of each ply from the end comprising disk 3 toward the end comprising disk 4 in such manner that each ply adjacent the rivet will be considerably thinner than adjacent the aperture 7, so that when the various plies are assembled, as best shown in Fig. 3, this graduation or thinning of the thicknesses of the individual plies will result in an increased height of the plies so assembled adjacent the aperture 7 over the height of the assembled plies adjacent the rivet 10 as clearly shown in the drawing.

The operation of the device, which it is thought will be almost self-evident from the drawing, may be described as follows: The tee may be readily carried by the player during the progress of the game, and on reaching a point upon the course'at which it is desired to make use of the tee as a base or pedestal to elevate the golf ball preparatory to striking the same with the golf club, the tee may be placed upon the ground as shown in Fig. 1 with the lowermost ply and washer 12 in contact therewith, that end of the tee carrying the rivet being preferably turned farthermost from the player in the position which is assumed preparatory to striking the ball. The ball 20 may then be placed upon the frustum of a cone formed by the several disks 3, the a erture 7 in the uppermost disk being pre erably of such size that the surface of the ball will project therein for a short distance so as to steady the ball upon the tee. The ball being thus elevated is now ready to be driven from the tee with a club in the usual manner, and owing to the relatively small diameter of the aperture 7 with respectto the diameter of the ball 20, whereby the ball is prevented from entering except for a very sh0rt distance into the aperture, the ball when struck will leave the tee cleanly and without carrying the same along with it for any appreciable distance. Moreover, in consequence of that portion of the tee adjacent the ball being higher than any other portion, ldue to the tapering or thinning of each ply toward that end adjacent rivet 10, there is very little likelihood `of the club striking the tee, even if it be swung a little too low, but even if the tee be accidentallystruck in making the stroke it is not apt to be driven more than a few feet from the player owing to its peculiar shape and, in addition, on account of the tee being formed of leather or.

other preferably slightly resilient material it will not readily be injured by Contact with the golf club or, in turn, injure the club in any way.

In case for any reason such as the individual method of play adopted, or the nature of the stroke to be made, the player prefers a. lower elevation for the ball than that secured when the ball is placed upon the tee as shown in Fig. 1, any desired number of plies may be turned to one side and the ball 20 rested upon the remaining plies as shown in Fig. 2, instead of upon the uppermost ply as shown in Fig. 1, thus securing, within limits, any desired elevation for the ball. Since the aperture 7 in any of the disks 3 is preferably of the same size as that in any other disk, the action of the ball in leaving the tee from a position upon any one of the intermediate disks, for example from the third disk from the bottomas shown in Fig. 2, will be exactly the same as when the full height of the tee is utilized and the ball positioned upon the uppermost ply as hereinbefore described, and as the plies not employed to support the ball are turned back out of the way they in no manner whatsoever interfere either with the ball leaving the tee or with the stroke of the player.

It will be evident owing to the preferred method of graduating the diameters of the disk so that when vertically axially alined they will form substantially frustums of cones with their greatest dia-meters adjacent the bottom at either end of the tee, that the tee will tend to remain constantly upright after being placed in position, both when utilized to obtain the greatest elevation for the ball, as shown in Fig. 1, or when arranged to present a lower elevation, as shown in Fig. 2, the weight of the washer 12 also assisting in securing this result, and that in consequence a steady, true and secure support of be evident that various changes may be.

made 4in the details of construction andarrangement of the various-parts.ofthe device, and that the size and shape thereof' may be altered, and other suitable modifications made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined,

in the appended claims. I f y Ilaving thus described my invention, I

claim and `desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:

1. A golf tee comprising a seriesof tapering bars formed and arranged `to lie flat with respect to each other in'superimposed relation and selectively revoluble about a common center, each bar being adapted to support a golf ball adj acent` the end thereof removed from said center.

2. A golf tee comprising a series of ta-' pering bfars formed and arranged to lie Hat with respect toeach other in superimposed relation, each bar beingfcapable of revolution about a common pivot positioned adj acent an end thereof and adapted to support a golf ball adjacent the opposite end thereof.

3. A golf teecomprising a Aseries of tapering bars formed and arranged to lie iatvvith respect to each other in superimposed relation each bar having a disk adjacent one en d `thereof adapted to support a golf ball, and a pivotpessing through said bars adjacent the ends thereof opposite to 'said disks, said bars being capable of selective 405 revolution about said pivot.

`In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this irst dayfof Dec., A. D., 1915.

WM. JACKSON MERRILL. 

